Learn More About Cattle

One of the most stressful things about showing cattle can be keeping them on feed and hydrated when traveling to shows. Everything else might be as good as can be - the calf looks great, their hair is in good shape, they’re clipped out to the max, you have an awesome fitting crew lined up for show day, your favorite judge is sorting the show, and the steer or heifer looks fantastic. Then, you get to the show, your calf is thrown into a new environment, they stress out, and decide they absolutely will not eat or drink. BOOM! Everything...

Each summer, our family brings in a group of calves to sell for kids to buy for their next 4-H project and show season. The calves come from a variety of farms, and often have had a huge difference in how they were started. It’s not hard to tell which ones have been pampered and came from a small farm where they see people every day and get hands-on attention; especially compared to the calves that only see people riding on ATV’s through the pasture before being weaned and loaded up on the trailer. Regardless, it’s a must for me that they...

Mineral supplementation is an important part of grazing beef cattle nutrition. Adequate mineral supply encourages a healthy immune response, weight gain in calves, and reproductive efficiency. When cattle are grazing, they require different mineral concentrations compared with grain-fed cattle. These requirements are partially dependent on the quality of the pasture, although most free-choice minerals are formulated to supply those minerals based on geographical regions. Free-Choice Mineral A free-choice mineral allows grazing cattle to balance their mineral requirements while consuming their pasture-based diet. These are loose minerals placed in an open or flapped container on a pasture. The container should allow the...